High Speed RJ45 Connector

ABSTRACT

A Rj45 plug (34) comprising: a housing (42,50) with an opening; a sled assembly (60,100,152,180) contained within the housing wherein the sled assembly (10,100,152,180) has a plurality of contacts (68,158,184) accessible via the opening; and a plug interface contact (PIC) cover (62,112,158,182) at least partially surrounding a first contact of the plurality of contacts wherein the PIC cover (62,112,158,182) is electrically insulated from the first plug interface contact of the plurality of contacts and electrically connected to a second plug interface contact of the plurality of contacts.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to RJ45 type plug connectors andspecifically to a high speed RJ45 connector which uses a plug interfacecontact (PIC) cover to switch the paths of the 3-6 split pair.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

RJ45 jack crosstalk compensation can generally be simplified by reducingthe amount of crosstalk added by the jack's plug interface contacts andshortening the compensation distance from the plug/jack contact point(approximate location of the source of crosstalk in a mated plug andjack). Shortening of the compensation distance, reducing jack pluginterface contact crosstalk, and placing the compensation at theinterface on a non-current carrying stub simplifies the jack crosstalkcompensation by reducing the phase delay between the plug/jack contactpoint and the jack crosstalk compensation network while reducing amountof crosstalk compensation.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In one embodiment, a high speed RJ45 connector has a housing with anopening. The housing contains a sled assembly. The sled assembly has aplurality of plug interface contacts with a plug interface contact (PIC)cover at least partially surrounding a first plug interface contact. ThePIC cover is electrically insulated from the first plug interfacecontact and electrically connected to a second plug interface contact.

In one embodiment, a second PIC cover at least partially surrounds athird plug interface contact. The second PIC cover is electricallyinsulated from the third plug interface contact and is electricallyconnected to a fourth plug interface contact.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF FIGURES

FIG. 1 is an isometric view of a communication system showing a patchpanel capable of using high speed RJ45 jacks of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an isometric view of a high speed RJ45 jack of the presentinvention mated with a plug.

FIG. 3 is an exploded isometric view of the RJ45 jack of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a rotated isometric view of a front sled assembly to be usedin the high speed connector of FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is an exploded isometric view of the front sled assembly of FIG.4.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the mated plug and jack of FIG. 2taken along line 6-6.

FIG. 7 is an isometric view of the front sled assembly of FIG. 4 (withthe sled being shown as a dashed outline) highlighting the signal pathsof the 3-6 split pair.

FIG. 8 is an isometric view from the bottom of the front sled assemblyof FIG. 7.

FIG. 9 is a side view of the front sled assembly of FIG. 7.

FIG. 10 is an isometric view of a contact assembly of a first alternatesled assembly for the high speed RJ45 jack of FIG. 2.

FIG. 11 is a side view of the contact assembly of FIG. 10.

FIG. 12 is an isometric view of a second alternate sled assembly for thehigh speed RJ45 jack of FIG. 2.

FIG. 13 is the 3-6 split pair contact assembly for the front sledassembly of FIG. 12 including PICs, PIC cover and flexible PCB.

FIG. 14 is an exploded isometric view of the 3-6 split pair PIC assemblyof FIG. 13.

FIG. 15 is an isometric view of a flexible PCB for use with thesplit-pair PIC assembly of FIG. 13.

FIG. 16 is an isometric view of a high speed RJ45 jack with a thirdalternate front sled assembly.

FIG. 17 is an isometric view of the third alternate sled assembly forthe jack of FIG. 16.

FIG. 18 is an isometric view from the bottom of the front sled assemblyof FIG. 17.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present invention is an RJ45 network jack. The plug interfacecontact (PIC) interface for contacts 3 and 6 is formed using a thinlayer of contact material that is electrically insulated and wrappedover conductive mechanical spring contact that is connected to contact 6and 3 respectively. The spring contact support at PIC position 3 iselectrically connected to PIC interface 6 and spring contact support atposition 6 is electrically connected to PIC interface 3. The PICinterface connection to spring contact is made such that it does notinterfere with the plug mating. Reduced PIC interface thickness atposition 3 and 6 reduces 2-3, 3-4, 5-6 and 6-7 crosstalk. PIC position 3and 6 supports having connected to position 6 and 3 respectively,provides crosstalk compensation 2-6, 4-6, 3-5, and 3-7 close to theplug/jack mating interface.

FIG. 1 illustrates a communication system 30 which includes patch panel32 with jacks 34 and corresponding plugs 36. Respective cables 40 areterminated to jacks 34, and respective cables 38 are terminated to plugs36. Once a plug 36 mates with a jack 34, data can flow in bothdirections through these connectors. Although communication system 30 isillustrated as a patch panel in FIG. 1, alternatively it can be otheractive or passive equipment. Examples of passive equipment can be, butare not limited to, modular patch panels, punch-down patch panels,coupler patch panels, wall jacks, etc. Examples of active equipment canbe, but are not limited to, Ethernet switches, routers, servers,physical layer management systems, and power-over-Ethernet equipment ascan be found in data centers and or telecommunications rooms; securitydevices (cameras and other sensors, etc.) and door access equipment; andtelephones, computers, fax machines, printers, and other peripherals ascan be found in workstation areas. Communication system 30 can furtherinclude cabinets, racks, cable management, and overhead routing systems,and other such equipment.

FIG. 2 illustrates network jack 34 mated with RJ45 plug 36. Note that inFIG. 2 the orientation of network jack 34 and RJ45 plug 36 is rotated180° about the central axis of cable 40 as compared to the orientationfrom FIG. 1.

Referring now to FIG. 3, network jack 34 includes front housing 42,front sled assembly 60, PCB 44, insulation displacement contact (IDC)support 46, IDCs 48, rear housing 50, and wire cap 52. Jack 34 canadditionally include an alien crosstalk reducing foil as described inU.S. Pat. No. 8,167,661 which is herein incorporated by reference in itsentirety.

FIG. 4 is a rotated isometric view of front sled assembly 60. Itincludes PICs 68 ₁ through 68 ₈, PIC covers 62 ₃ and 62 ₆, insulator 66,and sled 70. The subscript numbers of PICs and PIC covers represent RJ45pin positions as defined by ANSI/TIA-568-C.2. PIC covers 62 ₃ and 62 ₆interface with plug contacts electrically. PICs 68 ₆ and 68 ₃ providemechanical support at PIC positions 62 ₃ and 62 ₆, respectively.Insulator 66 electrically isolates PIC covers 62 ₃ and 62 ₆ from PICs 68₆ and 68 ₃, respectively. PIC cover 62 ₃ electrically connects to PIC 68₃ at location 74. PIC Cover 62 ₆ electrically connects to PIC 68 ₆ atlocation 72.

FIG. 5 is an exploded view of sled assembly 60 with PICs 68, PIC covers62, insulator 66, and sled 70.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of a mated plug 36 and jack 34 takenabout section line “6-6” in FIG. 2. It illustrates plug contact 140, PIC68, and PIC cover 62 in a mated position. Insulator 66 electricallyisolates PIC cover 62 from PIC 68 at contact positions 3 and 6.

FIG. 7 is an isometric view of sled assembly 60 showing signal path 80(bold dashed line) for contact position 6 and signal path 82 (bolddotted line) for contact position 3 from plug mating point shown by line84. Sled 70 is shown as a dashed outline for reference. For contactposition 3, PIC cover 62 ₃ electrically connects to plug contact 3 andto PIC 68 ₃ at location 74. PIC cover 62 ₃ is mechanically connected to(but electrically insulated from) PIC 68 ₆. PIC 68 ₆ provides springforce to PIC Cover 62 ₃ at the plug contact interface. PIC 68 ₆ islocated between PIC 68 ₂ and 68 ₄ and provides compensating crosstalkcoupling 2-6 and 4-6. The relatively small cross section of PIC cover 62₃ reduces 2-3 and 3-4 crosstalk due to its coupling with 68 ₂ and 68 ₄.Similarly, for contact position 6, PIC cover 62 ₆ electrically connectsto plug contact 6 and to PIC 68 ₆ at location 72. PIC cover 62 ₆ ismechanically connected to (but electrically insulated from) PIC 68 ₃.PIC 68 ₃ provides spring force to PIC Cover 62 ₆ at the plug contactinterface. PIC 68 ₃ is located between PIC 68 ₇ and 68 ₅ and providescompensating crosstalk coupling 3-7 and 3-5. The relatively small crosssection of PIC cover 62 ₆ reduces 5-6 and 6-7 crosstalk due to itscoupling with 68 ₅ and 68 ₇. In addition, PIC cover 62 ₃ coupling withPIC 68 ₆ and PIC cover 62 ₆ coupling with PIC 68 ₃ helps to offset theimpedance mismatch due to the 3-6 pair split, resulting in improvedreturn loss performance.

FIG. 8. is an isometric view of sled assembly 60 looking from thebottom. It shows contact 68 ₃ and 68 ₆ with tuning lengths 94, 96 and90, 92 respectively. Tuning length can be optimized in width and/orlength to have desired compensation coupling.

FIG. 9. illustrates sled assembly 60 in side view.

Insulator 66 can be a nonconductive label applied with adhesive and/orheat or other insulating coatings including but not limited to polymerand conformal coatings.

In a second embodiment of the present invention, an alternate sledassembly 100 (shown in FIGS. 10 and 11) PIC covers 112 ₃ and 112 ₆extend under PICS 68 ₄ and 68 ₅ to be electrically connected on bottomface of the PIC 68 ₃ and 68 ₆, respectively. PIC cover 112 ₃ isconnected at location 114 and PIC cover 112 ₆ is connected at 116.

In a third embodiment of the present invention, an alternate sledassembly 180 (shown in FIGS. 12 to 15) contains PIC covers 182 ₃ and 182₆ that are electrically isolated from supporting PICs 184 by flexiblePCB 188. Flexible PCB trace 190 (FIG. 15) connects PIC cover 182 ₆ toPIC 184 ₆ electrically at contact points 192 and 194 respectively.Flexible PCB trace 196 connects PIC cover 182 ₃ to PIC 184 ₃electrically at contact points 200 and 198 respectively. Traces 190 and196 are covered with insulating cover lay between lines 202 and 204.Flexible PCB allows PIC cover and PIC connection path to be broughtcloser to the plug/jack mating interface.

In a fourth embodiment (shown in FIGS. 16 to 18), jack 150 includes sledassembly 152 with sled 154, PICs 156, PIC covers 158 and insulator 160.In this embodiment PIC covers 158 interface plug contacts at positions1, 2, 4, 5, 7 and 8. PIC covers 158 ₁, 158 ₂, 158 ₄, 158 ₅, 158 ₇, 158 ₈are mechanically supported but electrically isolated from PICs 156 ₂,156 ₁, 156 ₅, 156 ₄, 156 ₈ and 156 ₇ respectively to provide springforce. PIC cover 158 ₁ connects to PIC 156 ₁ at 162, PIC cover 158 ₂connects to PIC 156 ₂ at 164, PIC cover 158 ₄ connects to PIC 156 ₄ at166, PIC cover 158 ₅ connects to PIC 156 ₅ at 168, PIC cover 158 ₇connects to PIC 156 ₇ at 170, PIC cover 158 ₈ connects to PIC 156 ₈ at172. PICs 156 ₃ and 156 ₆ position relative to 156 ₁, 156 ₄, 156 ₅ and156 ₇ provide compensating coupling 13, 35, 46 and 68 while reducing PICcrosstalk coupling 23, 34, 56 and 67.

While particular embodiments and applications of the present inventionhave been illustrated and described, it is to be understood that theinvention is not limited to the precise construction and compositionsdisclosed herein and that various modifications, changes, and variationsmay be apparent from the foregoing without departing from the spirit andscope of the invention as described.

1. A communication connector comprising: a housing with an opening; asled assembly contained within the housing wherein the sled assembly hasa plurality of contacts accessible via the opening; and a plug interfacecontact (PIC) cover at least partially surrounding a first contact ofthe plurality of contacts wherein the PIC cover is electricallyinsulated from the first plug interface contact of the plurality ofcontacts and electrically connected to a second plug interface contactof the plurality of contacts.
 2. The communication connector of claim 1further comprising a second PIC cover at least partially surrounding athird plug interface contact of the plurality of plug interfacecontacts, the second PIC cover being electrically insulated from thethird plug interface contact and electrically connected to a fourth pluginterface contact of the plurality of plug interface contacts.
 3. Thecommunication connector of claim 2 wherein the first PIC cover iselectrically connected to the second plug interface contact via an armextending from the first PIC cover towards the second plug interfacecontact.
 4. The connector of claim 1 wherein the PIC cover iselectrically connected to the second plug interface contact via aflexible printed circuit board.